Launching device for ships



March 27, 1945. A. o. PETERSEN 2,372,390

LAUNCHING DEVICE FOR SHIPS Filed Nov. 9, 1942 1.), "I "1 O O O O O l INVENTOR. ALBERT 0. PETERSEN E ia/2W?- ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 27, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 2,372,390 I LAUNcmNGpEvmnr'oa-smrs.

Albert 0. Petersen, San Francisco, cam;- Application November 9, 1942, Serial No.'465,067' I screens. (01. fil -6 7) The present invention relates to improvements in launching devices for ships and its principal object is to provide a unitary carriage onwhich the ship may be built and lowered into the water and which may be pulled back into positionimmediately to start the construction of thenext ship. Y

shown and described is designed for use in con nection' with the standard 10,000 tonfreighter of the fiat-bottom type, which'is' in extensiveuse at thepresent time. However, it may besuccessfully used in connection with different types of ships, and" may also-may be readily adapted for en'dwise launching,

It is a further object of my invention to pro vide a launching carriage of the character described that may be readily'used for dry-docking a ship for alterations and'repair' work.

Another object of the invention is to-provide alaunching carriage of all-steel construction, to be manipulated as a single unit and to provide suitable wooden wedge blocks for' bedding the hull of the ship thereon. I

And'finally, it isproposed to provide 'suitabie means for facilitating the travel of the carriage on underlying-tracks, to provide suitable lateral supporting means for the bedding blocks" and suitable attaching means for the'latter whereby they are held close to their point of, application forimmediate availability when they are'floated cut'of place during the launching operation;

Further objects and advantages of 'myinven tion will appear as the specification proceeds and the novel features of the invention will be fully set forth in the 'claims'hereto attached.

The preferred forms of my invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming part of this application, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of my launching device;

Figure 2, a vertical section taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1; A

Figure 3, a schematic top plan view of the launching device, as used for side launching, the outline of the ship'being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 4, a schematic top plan view of a modifled launching device, as used for endwise launchmg, the outline of the ship beingshownin dotted lines; and

Figure 5, a sectional detail-view 'taken'alons line 5-5 of Figure 2-.

While Ihave shown only the preferred forms of 'my invention, I wish'tohave it understood that various changes-or modifications maybe made within the scope of the claims'hereto at-- tached without departing from the spiritof the invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, my launch ingdevice comprises in its principal parts," the launching ways-l and the launching carriage 2;

The launching ways comprise a plurality of units arranged in spaced and parallel relation; the number and the spacing depending upon the size and the weight of the ship to beconstructed. If intended for a standard 10,000 ton freighter, and for side launching, I preferably provide thirty ways arranged fifteenfeet apart from each" otherand each way being suitably supported on piles 3 as shown in the drawing.

The piles 3 are preferably arranged in pairs of i2 by 12 timbers, the upper endsof each pair, and of alined pairs, being interconnected by beams 4 arranged at an inclined "plane and suitably bolted to ether, as at 5.

The upper ends of enemies are suitably cut on a bias to support two track beams 6" in in clined position, the inclination being such as "to insure proper movement of the carriage under its own weight and proper control of the movement by the means hereinafter described:

A metallic track 1, preferably in the form of an I- b'eam, is superimposed on the wooden beams in the manner shown in the drawing.

The carriage 2 consists of a plurality of cradles- 8 arranged in spaced .and parallelrelat'ion, the number of cradles and their spacing correspond+ ing to the number" and'the spacing of the tracks or ways, the number'being thirty and the spacing fifteen feet in the instance. selectedvfor the purposes of illustration;

The cradles may be made of different lengths, depending upon the shape of the ship, the cradles toward both ends of the ship being made shorter than those supporting the middle of the I ship, as clearly appears from Figure 3 of the drawing. Apart from their respective lengths, the cradles are made in substantially the same way, and are preferably of all-metal construction.

Each cradle 8 comprises an inclined bottom channel 9 having the same inclination as the tracks on the ways, a series of struts l0 rising The lower channels 9 are inverted and ride, through suitable bronze bearings M, on the projecting ends l5 of rollers l6 adapted to be received on the tracks I of the ways, the bearingsv being received in recesses in the flanges ofthe channels 9.

The different cradles 8 are suitably interconnected by means of cross-beams I! so as to form a rigid unitary structure referred to as the carriage, and all of the upper surfaces of the cradles are in the same horizontal plane. The connecting beams I! are preferably arranged near the upper ends of the struts so as to offer as little interference as possible to men working underneath the ship.

The ship is supported on this carriage by means of pairs of wooden wedge blocks l8 and I9. The upper wedge block serves as a bedding member for contacting the bottom of the ship and the lower wedge block is preferably made of hardwood and is used for driving the upper member into bearing relation with the hull of the ship, in the manner well known in the art.

The upper block is preferably made sufficiently long, say about five feet, to give support to three adjacent frame members of the ship, indicated by arrows at 20, one over the center, andone over each end, while the lower wedge block may be somewhatshorter, say about three and one-half feet.

The wedge blocks are arranged fairly close to one another on the upper surface of the cradle, say about thirty inches apart, so that alternate ones may be removed to give access for painting, without throwing an undue load on the remaining ones.

To give lateral support to the wedge blocks, I arrange transverse flanges 2! on opposite sides thereof, the flanges being secured on the upper faces of the I-beams l2 in any suitable manner. When the ship is launched, the wedge blocks are apt to be floated off their seats and, in order to render them immediately available for further operations, I provide suitable means, such as ropes or chains 22 attached to the blocks to prevent them from drifting away.

The carriage is held in position on the ways by means of cables 23, preferably one to each cradle,

the cables being wound on winches 24, and the latter being suitably operated by motors, not shown, in such a manner that they may be uniformly operated in either direction so that the cables are held under uniform tension and even pull is exercised on all the cradles, whether the carriage is lowered or raised.

The average high and low water marks are indicated at 25 and 26, and the lower end of the launching ways is shown broken away to indicate that the ways should extend into the water somewhat further to allow of launching operations.

The operation of my invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description. Before starting the construction of a ship, the carriage 2 is firmly anchored on the upper part of the launching ways in the position indicated in Figure l. The keel is laid and the construction of the ship is proceeded with. When the ship is ready for launching, the cables 23 are released at uniform speed to allow the carriage to travel downward toward the water until the hull of the ship displaces enough water to be floated off.

After the carriage has been cleared of the hull of the ship, its movement may be reversed, and it may be pulled back into its original position where it is ready immediately for the laying of another ship.

The modified form of Figure 4 is intended for endwise launching of a ship. In this case, the cradles 8' run lengthwise of the ship, are longer to correspond to the length of the ship and are fewer in number, the drawing showing six cradles spaced about nine feet apart. Except for engineering features, such as a different grade for the ways and different weight distribution, this form of my invention operates on the same principles as the one previously described.

Iclaim:

1. In a ship supporting and launching device, a carriage, comprising a plurality of cradles arranged in spaced relation to form a unitary structure having a plurality of beams arranged in spaced and parallelrelation and located in the same horizontal plane, wedge blocks supported transversely on the beams to lie with their upper faces in a common horizontal plane, and side supports for the wedge blocks secured upon the beams, the side supports for each wedge block being paired to form a bed adapted to receive the wedge blocks and the beds serving to facilitate the placing of the blocks in predetermined order. 2. In a ship supporting and launching device, a carriage comprising a plurality of cradles ranged in spaced relation to form a unitary structure having a plurality of beams arranged in spaced and parallel relation and located in the same horizontal plane, wedge blocks supported transversely on the beams to lie with their upper faces in a common horizontal plane, and side supports for the wedge blocks secured upon the beams, the side supports for each wedge block being pairedv to form a bed adapted to receive the wedge blocks and the bed serving to facilitate the placing of the blocks in predetermined order, and the wedge blocks having means for attaching the same to the cradles to retain the same near their point of application when they are floated oflc their beds during launching operations.

ALBERT O. PETERSEN. 

